Terrance Williams may not have stepped between the ropes in
some seven months — the last time it really, really counted — but these days
the 30-year-old technician with the finely tuned skill set feels much more
prepared.

For a number of reasons.

* His December debut at York's Valencia Ballroom gave him a
terrific feel for the professional fight game and how to settle those pre-bout
nerves.

* The former three-sport standout at Gettysburg High School
(football, basketball, track & field) and Shippensburg University graduate has
had much more time to become ring ready and fine-tune his slender 168-pound
frame.

* Williams' hands are healthy.

Wrap all of those items into a tidy package and one can
quickly discern why Williams (1-0-0, 1 knockout) feels ready to square off
against Drew Morais (1-2-0) of Southgate, Mich., in a four-round bout that's
part of the sizable "Judgement Day" card on tap Friday night in downtown
Harrisburg.

First bell is 6:30.

And since Williams doesn't have much background on his second
professional adversary, he's been spending his time getting himself plugged in.

Mentally.

Physically.

Whatever.

Terrance Williams, shown here at Harrisburg's Capital Punishment Harrisburg Boxing Club, feels much more prepared for his second professional fight than he did his first.Michael Bullock, PennLive.com

"Right now, I'm just trying to focus on preparation and when
the time comes, I'm sure I'll be ready," Williams said Monday night at sauna-like
Capital Punishment Harrisburg Boxing Club. "This time around, we've had more
time to get ready. I knew about this months ago. We knew that Dec. 21 date [for
my professional debut] was the date, but I still had two amateur fights right
before that.

"My last amateur fight was Nov. 24 and I fought on Dec. 21,
so it was actually only three weeks we really had to prepare. And I was coming
off a hand injury, too."

Next up for Williams is the 24-year-old Morais, who split a
pair of four-round decisions before getting knocked out on May 18 by Jerry Odom
in the opening moments of their scheduled four-rounder in Washington, D.C.

So, in an effort to get ready for Morais, Williams' brother,
Lawrence, added some specific drills designed to improve foot speed, core and
leg strength to his normal fitness work, exercises that should enhance his
movements in the ring.

"I'm not a slugger. I'm not Mike Tyson," Williams said
candidly. "I'm more of a boxer type so I worked on things that would help that.
... We're in the first stages of it, but there'll be a progression to it. I think
people will see me get stronger, too."

And, given additional preparation time they didn't have
before, CPHB trainer Ricky Clark lined up a series of adversaries to test his
skillful lefty.

One of Williams' sparring partners was Keenan Collins
(15-8-3), the physically imposing, Reading-based veteran trained by King's Gym's
Marshall Kauffman who has posted 10 career knockouts during his lengthy ring
career.

"He looked good against Keenan Collins," Clark admitted.
"Terrance looked good. He moves around. Keenan Collins knows what to do.
Terrance took one good shot and that was a shot to the body. He stood up to
him."

CPHB trainer Ricky Clark (right), shown working out Charles Pierce, will be in Terrance Williams' corner for his Friday fight against Drew Morais.Michael Bullock, PennLive.com

And while Williams may feel better physically than he did
the first time he fought professionally and he's logged more pre-fight rounds,
he believes the experiences he gained from just getting in the ring last
December are another plus.

"I think the biggest thing I learned is when I get in the
ring, I'm just basically doing what I've been trained to do," Williams said.
"And ultimately, leaving all my insecurities and everything else, outside the
ring. When I go in there, it's business.

"I've prepared hard. My brother always tells me, 'Trust your
talent, trust your ability.' Coach Rick always tells me to be myself and
everything will be fine," Williams added. "That's the mindset that I have taken
to the ring. Just be myself, just do the things that I'm capable of doing and
everything else will fall into place.

"The thing I liked about it is it got the nerves out of the
way, and it was a good opportunity to fight locally and close to home and have a
lot of family support."

When Williams gets back in the ring on Friday night — for
another local fight close to home and with family members watching — he'll be
making his final appearance at 168 pounds. He's planning to drop one weight
class for his next fight.

With the excessive heat forecast for Friday night, Williams
just might shed those pounds during his dustup with Morais.

"His regular weight is 160, but these fights you've got to
take whatever you can get," Clark said. "I told him he doesn't have to
struggle. And I watched him take a couple of Marshall's fighters apart. He's
good at what he does. He's still not as mean and evil as I want him to be, but
he's good at the art of boxing."

"This is the best Terrance has looked."

Credit his comprehensive preparation.

"I think conditioning-wise, I feel like I'm in better shape
than I was the first time around," Williams said, comparing his recent prep
work to what he went through to get ready for Hume. "Adding that new twist to
it, but having more time to train.

"I was nursing a hand, so the sparring was kind of limited,
things like that. We've had better sparring this time, we've traveled around,
we were in York, we made trips to Reading to Marshall Kauffman's gym, obviously
with the guys we have in here. We have a lot of talent here, a lot of different
styles.